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According to a study by the Nielsen Norman Group (whatever that is), people read the same Hemingway stories faster in print than on the iPad. Besides supposedly revealing that people read text 6.2 percent slower on an iPad than on the printed page, the study, based on a sample of 24 readers (not sure how that worked), also claimed reading on the Kindle was even slower than on the iPad — 10.7 percent slower than print, though the difference was “not statistically significant” (what difference is, with a sample of 24 people?).

This doesn’t sound like a very reliable study, but if what you care about in your reading is speed, it’s probably a good idea to stick with print — at least you will be a little less likely to take a break to check your e-mail.

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3 Comments

My sister got the Barnes and Noble version of the Kindle as a Mother’s Day present. I tried using it and found that the screen didn’t come up fast enough for me. I guess I’m more of a speed reader than I thought. It died after three weeks and had to be completely replaced as the whole darn thing was defective. I agreed that having the kindle or other electronic books is great if you are traveling — otherwise, I prefer the old fashioned kind of books. I learned the limits of Books on CD’s the hard way. When I first got my first computer (back in 1993 or 1993), I bought all these expensive CD’s of art collections – the Tate, The Barnes, the National Gallery. Well, a few years down the line, the computer systems had changed so much that they couldn’t be viewed whereas my books, some 30 years old, are still readable.
Sometimes the older technology really is better.

TiffanyR

I get how everyone is so amazed about how you can have everything that your life revolves around in one little device, but books? Why not leave it at just music and movies. Printed books have this power that don’t imagine an Ipad could ever dream of having. The smell of the book, the way the paper feels between your fingers, and it’s an added bonus that you don’t have to worry about their screen getting smashed.
I refuse to let the Ipad take away my dream of growing old in my own personal library, with walls covered in books, sitting next to a fake fireplace in a giant comfy chair.

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